Rail-joint.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAIL-JOINT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1905.

Application filed August 9, 1905. Serial No. 273,378.

To alt whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. SHEA, a citizen of the United States,residing at Freeport, in the county of Nassau and State of New York,have made certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in that class of rail-joints in whichbolts, nuts, and fish-plates are dispensed with, the meeting ends of therails being provided with interlocking tongues or projections.

I have devised a new and improved construction and arrangement of partswhereby rail ends are so engaged as to be more firmly supportedvertically and also held in more rigid alinement laterally.

The details of construction and arrangement of parts are as hereinafterdescribed, and illustrated in accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1is a perspective view of a portion of the meeting ends of two railsinterlocked by my improved means. Fig. 2 is a cross- Section on the line2 2 of Fig. 8. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the under side of the meetingends of the rails, the same being shown slightly separated. Fig. 4 is aperspective view of one of the rail ends inverted. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a rail end, a portion being broken away. Figs. 6 and7 are perspective views of the respective ends of the meeting rails.Fig. 8 is a plan view of the under side of the rails when adjustedtogether to form the joint.

A B indicate the meeting ends of two rails which are provided withinterlocking means, as will be hereinafter described. The ends of therails are constructed precisely alike, and hence for most purposes thedescription of one will suflice for both.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 6, (0 indicates the ordinarycentral web of rail A, and a the usual base or base-flanges thereofextended laterally, while a indicates the head or tread portion. The weba is practically continued by what may be called the tongue a the sameprojecting beyond the head a and also being set ofi", or laterally, fromthe ordinary web a, so that the two are out of alinement. On one side ofthis webtongue (1 the flange a of the rail is cut away, Figs. 5 and 6,on the upper side, so that ashoulderis provided at a In a similarway theopposite base-flange is cut away on the under side, as at a, thusforming a shoulder 0 other words, while the rail end A presents two baseflanges extended and provided with shoulders they are reduced inthickness and provided with shoulders on opposite sides, one on the uper side and one on the lower. Between t e front end of the two baseextensions a there is provided an open-end longitudinal slot (1 (SeeFigs. 3, 4, 5, and 6.) For the sake of clearer illustration the parts ofthe rail end B are marked with letters I) to b", inclusive,corresponding to the marks applied to the rail end A. It will now beunderstood that when the rail ends are brought into alinement they maybe forced together so as to meet, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 8, andthat in such case the web-tongue 6 passes alongside the web-tongue a andlies in close contact therewith, the beveled end of b abutting theshoulder a of the web a, while the similar end of a similarly abuts theShoulder b of the web I); also, the raised base-flange or extension 6 ofrail B passes over the reduced base-flange a and abuts the shoulder a ofrail A, while the opposite flange 5 of the rail B passes under the otherportion a? of the flange of A. Thus the overlapping and underlyingbase-flanges of the rail ends prevent each rail from rising or beingdepressed, and the web-tongues a 6 also aid in this, since their upperand lower edges lie in contact with the head and base of the oppositerail. By the provision of the longitudinal slots a and b in therespective rail ends provision is made for reception of a correspondingportion or'tongue of the opposite rail, which is an important factor inpreventing lateral movement or displacement of the rail ends.

By the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts illustratedand described I form a rail-joint which is firm or rigid in both lateraland vertical directions.

What I claim is 1. The improved railjoint comprising meeting rail endsconstructed in duplicate, each having a web-tongue or projection offsetlaterally and thus out of alinement with the central web of the rail butparallel to the plane of said web, and base-flanges orextensionsarranged on opposite sides of the said tongue, one being cutaway on the upper side and provided with a shoulder and the other cutaway on the under side and similarly provided with a shoulder,substantially as described.

2. The improved rail-joint comprising meeting rail ends constructed induplicate, each having a web-tongue or projection offset laterally andthus out of alinernent with the central web of the rail but parallel tothe vided with a shoulder, and an open longitu- IO dinal slot locatedbetween the two opposite base-flanges or extensions, substantially asdescribed.

CHARLES J. SHEA.

Witnesses: 4 NATHAN COHEN, GEO. J. QUINN.

